Inking control means for printing devices



Aug. 11, 1964 lE. SCHREMPP INKING CONTROL MEANS FOR PRINTING DEVICES Filed Jan. 18, 1963 Aug. 11, 1964 E. scHREMPP INKING CONTROL MEANS FOR PRINTING DEVICES 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 18, 1963 Aug. 11, 1964 E. scHREMPP 3,143,963

INKING CONTROL MEANS FoR PRINTING DEVICES Filed Jan. 1s, 1965 4 sheets-sheet :s

ug 11, 1964 E. scHREMPP INKINO CONTROL MEANS FOR PRINTING OEvIcEs 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. F/WSZL Schram/0,0

@y mm Filed Jan. 18, 1963 United States Patent() 3,143,963 INKING CGNTRQL MEANS FOR PRINTING DEVHCES Ernst Schrempp, Norwalk, Conn., assgnor to Pitney- Bowes, Inc., Stamford, Conn., a corporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 18, 1963, Ser. No. 252,503

11 Claims. (Cl. lill-351) This invention relates to a novel apparatus for limiting the extent of use of an expendable machine item to a predetermined period of machine operation. More particularly the invention relates to a novel apparatus for limiting the number of cycles of a printing machine in accordance with the predetermined capacity of an expendable self-contained ink supply unit and for thereafter rendering said ink supply unit unlit for use in the machine. In present-day business machines having printing means associated therewith there has been an ever increasing use of disposable ink supply units. Each of these selfcontained units is normally used until the ink supply therein is exhausted whereupon the unit is thrown away and a replacement is made. In this type of printing arrangement the darkness or intensity of the printed matter will progressively fade as the end of the effective life f the ink supply unit is approached and this deterioration factor must be carefully controlled and limited in those applications where a high quality of print work is desired., When the print work to be performed must exceed minimum standards and where the particular machine to be used is equipped with a disposable self-contained inking unit such as an inking roll means should be provided for limiting the number of machine cycles in which the inking unit may be used; this number of cycles of course being less than that at which the print work will fade to an unacceptable level.

One object of the invention is to provide a novel apparatus for effectively disabling a printing device after a predetermined maximum number of cycles and for thereafter permitting the enabling of said device only after the exhausted ink supply unit has been effectively destroyed.

Another object of the invention is to provide a printing device which uses a self-contained ink supply unit and which is provided with means for permanently disabling the ink supply unit after a predetermined period of printmg.

3,l43,%3 Patented Aug. ll., 1964 y In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view in partial section and illustrates most of the principal parts of the instant in- Vention.

FIG. 2 is a plan View of the apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a front View of a portion of the instant apd lockout and related control linkage of FIG. l.

tion with a postage meter type printing machine wherein Another object of the invention is to provide an interi related control means for a self-contained ink supply unit and for a cycle control means of a printing device whereby once disabled the cycle control means can be enabled only by operating said interrelated control means which operation thereby renders the ink supply unit permanently maximum number of inking operations by a given selfcontained ink supply unit and for giving a machine operator advance warning when this predetermined number of cycles is'nearing completion.

, Other objects of the invention will become apparent as the disclosure progresses.

the printing die is inked prior to each printing operation is will be understood that the instant invention may be incorporated in various types of business machines where a consumable supply item is used. The printing machine shown in the drawings is detailed to the extent necessary to disclose the nature of the claimed invention and it will be understood that unless otherwise indicated the various parts are suitably arranged and mounted on the machine frame in a manner well understood in the art.

Referring to FIG. l a portion of the general outer machine proiile is` shown by the dot-dash line 10. A recess 11 is provided throughout the width of the front of the machine, said recess being adapted to receive that portion of an article which is to be printed on. Operatively disposed in the upper part of the recess 11 is a printing die 12 the raised lower surfaces 13 of which define the characters that are to be printed. Each printing operation is effected by means of a suitable platen 14 which is normally disposed in the lower portion of recess 11 and which is adapted to be moved vertically upward so as to press the said article intoengagement With the lower printing surfaces 13 of the die 12. Prior to each printing operation it is desirable to deposit a fresh supply of ink over the printing surfaces of die 12, and for this purpose an ink roll 15 is provided, said ink roll being of a disposable type having a self-contained reservoir of printing ink. This inking roll is mounted and actuated so as to recipro cate first to the right, i.e. from the normal dotted line position to the solid line position of FIG. l, and then to the left over the printing surfaces 13. The platen 14 is moved through its printing stroke at a time between the execution of said right and left excursions of ink roll 15; i.e. while the ink roll momentarily dwells or remains in its said right hand solid line position shown in FIG. l. After completion of a certain number of printing cycles of the machine the ink roll will begin to approach the end of its useful life and when the roll itself and/or the ink reservoir therein becomes nearly depleted it is desirable to have the machine automatically lock out so that no more printing operations may occur until the old ink roll is replaced by a fresh ink roll. In this way the intensity of print work produced by the machine will not fall below a predetermined level. Any given ink roll such as 15 will 'have a predetermined life in terms of a number of print cyclesV and by employing a cycle counter and a machine disabling and enabling means together with related linkage the desired machine lockout function and other functions may be obtained as will be hereinafter explained.

The structural support and` actuating means for the ink roll -15 will be described first and then a discussion of the lockout and related control means therefor will be made.

Each end of the ink roll 15 is provided with a hub 16, these hubs being rotatably supported on a U-shaped roll support bracket 17 as is best seen in FIG. 2. Here the side ends 20 and 20' of bracket 17 constitute a pair of lower ink roll supporting jaws which respectively cooperate with upper jaws 21, 21" that are pivotally mounted on said bracket ends 20, 20. The freelends of the upper jaws 21, 21 are yieldably biased toward the lower jaws by means of suitable springs 22, 22 so that the ink roll hubs 1.6 may be releasably and rotatably supported, the' jaws being formed with appropriate cooperating notches which engage said hubs 16. The roll support bracket 17 is fixedrto a slide -23 to which is secured a pair of laterally extending headed studs 24, 25, the shank portions of said studs -being slidably disposed for horizontal fore and aft movement in an elongated slot 26, FIG. 1 formed in the adjacent portion of the machine frame 27. The slide 23 isfactuated by means of aV rotary cam 30 through a conventional type linkage comprising a follower cam roll 31, cam follower arm 32'and a slide connecting pin 33, FIG. 2, the cam follower arm 32 being horizontally slidably supported inV a suitable manner by the usual type of guide block 34 secured to themachine frame 27. Cam 30 is fixed-on the armature shaft of a drive motor 3'5. As will be apparent when the cam 30 is driventhrough onerevolution the ink roll-15 will be horizontally displaced through a rearward inking stroke (to the right as seen in FIG. 1) and then through al forward inking stroke. During this cyclic motion the ink roll 15 rolls over the operative surfaces 13 of the printing die 12 and thus deposits sufficient ink thereon to accommodate a printing operation.

Control means are provided Vfor permitting only one revolution of the motoi 35 and cam 30 for each cycle of operation of the machine. This control means comprisesV a motor switch 36 which is held in a closed condition by means of a cam follower linkage for a time period just long enough to allow the motor 35 to make one revolution. This linkage comprises a second earn 4t) mounted on the other end of the motor armature shaft,

cam 40 having an outer peripheral-cam track 41 and an u innercam track42 as is best seen in FIG. l. Cooperating with cam 40 are two cam followers units, one such unitcomprising a cam follower arm 43 which is pivotally mounted on a shaft 44 fixed to the machineframe and which is provided on its free end with a roller 45' that cooperates in the usuall manner with the inner-cam track 42. The follower arm 43 is also formed with an upstanding detentnger 46 that has a bent off ear 47 formed on the forward edge thereof. The other'ca'm follower unit comprises a follower arm l) which is independently pivotally mounted on shaft 44 and which is formed with a nose 51 that slidably cooperates in the usual manner with said outer peripheral cam track 41, Fixed to the arm 50 is a forwardly extending motor switch actuating and reset lever l52, the offset shoulder portion 53, FIG. 2, of lever 52 being disposed in front of the bent off ear47 on nger 46. The cam follower arm 43 is rotatably biased -inV a counterclockwise direction by means of a spring54 whereby camV roller 45 is always urged towards the radially inward side of the cam track42. The follower arm 50 together with lever 52 is rotatably biased in a clockwisefdirection by means of a spring 55 so as to bias the follower riose 51 into sliding engagement with the peripheral cam track 41. The lower edge of the switch lever 52 overlies lthe control finger 56 of the electrical switch 36, the switch 36 being connectedin series with the motor 35 and being'of the snap type wherein the switch contacts snap open or closed as the control finger 56 is displacedthrough an over-center position. The construction a'nd arrangement of this type ofswitch m'ay be entirely conventional and hence needsno further explanation'here.

t The cam follower unit 43-45 effectively controls the cyclic closure of switch 36 and also insures that only a single revolution of the cams 30 and 40 takes place for each machine cycle. The follower arm unit 50, 51 controls the timing of the opening of said switch 36 during each cyclic revolution of cam 4th. The cam follower arm 43 is normally latched in the FIG. l position against the biasing action of spring 54 by means of a latch arm 60 which has a latching shoulder 61 and which is pivotally mounted on a frame stud 62. The latch 60 which is biased in a clockwise direction by means of a spring 63 is adapted to be manually operated by means vof a cycle control bar or key 64 which has a stem 65 that is formed with vertically extending slots 66 and 67 which respectively cooperate with studs 70 and 71 fixed to the machine frame 27, FIG. 2 whereby the key stem is capable of being displaced through vertical control movements. The key stem 65 is biased to a normal upper position by means of a spring 72. Pivotally mounted along the rearward edge of key stem 65 is a trip pawl 73 which is rotatably biased by a suitable spring 74 to a normal counterclockwise position as determined by engagement of the offset pawl shoulder 75 with the rearward edge of the key stem. Fixed to the lower end of the pawl'is a laterally projecting stud 76 which overlies the upper edge of a forwardly and downwardly extending arm 80 integrally formed on said latch 65. As will be apparent when the key 64 is depressed the downward motion of pawl 73 will cause latch 60 to be pivoted in a counterclockwise direction as illustrated in FIG. 4 whereby the spring 54 is permitted to swing cam follower arm roller 45 into the inner operative portion of cam track 42 thereby 'freeing the cam 40 for rotation in ay counterclockwise direction. When spring 54 effects this counterclockwise movementV of follower arm 43 the ear 47 by engaging the adjacent shoulder 53 on switch lever 52 will cause the lever and the foll'ower'arm 50 to be also pivotally displaced in a counterclockwise direction, the spring 54 being effectively stronger than spring 55. This pivotal movement of lever 52 causes an operative displacement of the switch arm 56 so that the contacts of switch 36 are closed thus initiating operation of the motor 35. As the cam 40 'is driven Y counterclockwise by motor 35 the respective follower arm units will follow their respective camtracksyfollower unit 50, 51 serving to hold the switch 36 in a closed condition while follower arm unit 43-45 serves to determine the end of a single revolution of the cam 40. Just before the follower roller 45 impacts against the abutment portion 81 of the cam track 42 the nose 51 of follower arm 50 will drop off the shoulder 82 ofcam track 41 thereby opening switch 36. In this way the current supply to the motor is cut off just before the completion of the single revolution of cam 40. The spiral type contour of cam track 42 also serves to permit the effective resetting of the latch 60, i.e. during the latter portion of the single revolution of cam 4t) the resulting clockwiseV pivotal movement of follower arm 43 swings the integral upstanding arm 46 into the FG. 1 position so that latch spring 63 Vmay reset latch shoulder 61 again into defending engagement with the rearward edgeof said arm 46. In this Way the follower roller 45 is 'prevented from swinging radially inwardly in the cam track-42 at the end of a'cycle thereby limiting the cyclic rotation of cam 40 to just one revolution.

The arrangement of the pawl 73, the latch 60 and lever 52 is such that a repeat cycle of the machine will not occur even though the key 64 is held in the depressed condition. It will be noted here that the forward edge 83 of the lever 52 is normally disposed just to the rear of the said stud 76 fixed to the lower end of the trip pawl 73. After the key 64 has been depressed and an yoperative machine cycle initiated theswitch closing counterclockwise movement of lever 52 will cause the rearward lever edge 83 to engage the pawl stud 76 and swing the pawl in a clockwise direction so that said pawl stud slides offv the upper edge of the latch arm 80, as shown in FIG. 4, 'thereby permitting the latch 60 to be spring driven to a position engaging the top edge of arm 46 so as to be ina ready condition to move into detending engagement with the rearward edge of arm 46 as soon as the cam track 4Z swings arm 46 to the FIG. 1 position. In this Way the cyclic relatching of the follower arm 43 becomes independent of the length of time that the key 64 is held depressed. During each cyclic revolution of cam 40 the ink roll drive cam 30 FIG. 2 is of course simultaneously rotated through one revolution and thus the ink roll 15, through the drive linkage 32, 23, 17, etc., is oscillated through itsl working strokesas above .described so as to deposit suicient ink on the printing die surfaces 13 to properly accommodate the printing operation.

The abovek described apparatus essentially constitutes the structural and functional environment in which the instant invention is to be couched and it is to be understood that this structural and/ or functional environment may be afforded by any other suitable or equivalent means. As previously mentioned the useful life of the disposable ink rollk 15 is measured by the number of printing cycles which may be properly serviced by the ink roll after which the machine must be automatically effectively locked up so as to prevent the production of any subsequent print work that might be substandard. To accomplish these and relatedb functions thefollowing structural arrangements are provided. First a counter is provided for continually4 recording the number of cycles performed by the machine. This counter, which is generally illustrated at 100, FIGS. 2 and 3, is operated by the slide 23, FIG. 2 which oscillatably drives the ink roll 15. The counter drive take off comprises a v ratchet pawl 101 FIG. 2 which is pivotally mounted on said slide 23 by means of a stud 102 and which is rotatably biased by means of a spring 103 into engagement with a bent oif ear 104 formed on the slide.

The nose of pawl 101 is adapted to engage a counter input ratchet wheel 105 which is rotatably secured to a tubular stud shaft 106. The ratchet wheel 105 is adapted to be yieldably rotatably detented in a plurality of successive angular positions by means of a flexible spring arm A107, FIGS. l andk 3, one end of which engages the teeth of the ratchet wheel 105 and the other end of which is secured to the-machine frame. The tubular shaft 106 constitutes the input shaft to the cycle counter 100. The counter 100 may be of any conventional type and for illustrative purposes is shown here as comprising essentially three axiallyl oifset transfer Wheels108, 109 and 110, FIG. 5. Wheel 108 is fixed to the inner end of the tubular shaft 106 and is formed with a plurality of peripheral gear type-teeth. A wide tooth 108a formed on wheel 108 extends axially beyond the inner face of the wheel and is adapted to intermittently mesh with the teeth ofthe similar *Wheel 109. mounted'on a stud shaft 111, FIG. 5, that is suitably supported in the counter housing and is provided with a similar Wide tooth 109u that is adapted to intermittently mesh Vwith the teeth of the similar wheel 110 that is fixed to'the 'shaft 112, shaft 112 being rotatably mounted at its left end, FIG. 3, within the tubular shaft 106 and at its right end in the machine frame. As will be apparent when the ratchet wheel 105 is intermittently rotatably indexed by the cyclic operation of the machine the counter wheels'108, 109 and 110 will be progressively'indexed in accordance with a progressively lowering step-down gearratio determined of course by the number of teeth in thev respective wheels 108-110. The effective gear ratio between the input and output counter shafts 106 and 112 is made to'correspondto the cycle-life of ink roll 15 so that when the shaft 112 completes -one revolution the machine will be locked out as will befdescribed below.

The output shaft 112- from the cycle counter 100 has secured -at its right hand end, FIG. 3, a pair of discs 130 and 131, FIGS. 2 and 3, which are respectivelyy formed with teeth 132 and 133, FIG. l. These two teeth lie the machine operator when the ink roll 15 is nearly ex- Wheel 109 is rotatably hausted while the tooth 132 operates a linkage that serves to lock out the machine. This latter linkage comprises a lockout link 134, FIG. l, which as is best shown in FIG. 6 is pivotally mounted by means of a pin 135 on a lever 136 that in turn is mounted on the machine frame by means of a stud 137. A spring is connected between the link 134 and the lever 13650 as to normally yieldably bias said link and lever into engagement with frame studs 141 4and 142 respectively. As is illustrated in FIG. 1, the lever 136 is additionally rotatably biased by means of a spring 143. The lockout link 134 has an upper rearward edge 144, FIG. 1, that is normally disposed just in front of the pawl shoulder 75 as is best seen in FIG. 2 whereby clockwise rotation of link 134 from the normal FIG. l position will cause trip pawl 73 to be pivoted in a clockwise direction against the action of spring 74. This displacement of pawl 73 will swing the pawl stud 76 forwardly out of overlying relation with respect to the latch arm 80 as illustrated in FIG. 6 so that even though the key 64 and lever 65 is thereafter depressed, i.e., moved from the dotted line to the solid line condition of FIG. 6, the

machine cycle control latch 60 cannot be thereby operated to initiate ,a machine cycle. The lower portion of the lockout link 134 is formed with a nose 145, FIG. 6, Which is adapted to cooperate with the disc tooth 132 whereby when tooth 132 incrementally steps from the dotted line to the solid line position of FIG. 6 the link 134 will be pivotally displaced to and held in the operative condition shown in FIG. 6 so as to thereby swing said pawl in a clockwise direction and thus effectively lock out the machine.

In order to give the machine operator an advanced warning before the machine is to be locked out the disc tooth 133 is arranged in phase relation with respect ,to disc tooth 132 so as to engage and displace the lower tooth engaging nose 146:1 of a warning lever 146 a predetermined number of machine cycles before said disc tooth 132 engages the link nose 145. The Warning lever 146 is pivotally mounted on the machine frame by means of a stud 147 and has appropriate warning indicia provided on the upper surface of its head 150. Lever 146 is biased by means of a spring 148 toward a normal position against a frame stud 149. When the warning lever 146 is displaced from its normal dotted line position to its displaced solid line position as shown in FIG. 6 said indicia may be thereby moved to a visible position in registry with a suitablel aperture in the machine housing. The warning lever 146 is latched in its operative solid line FIG. 6 position by means of a bent off ear 151 which is formed on the lever 136 and which is adapted to slidably engage the inner side face of the Warning lever 146 during the clockwise movement of the latter until saidrear snaps laterally into detenting engagement with a nose 152 formed on the front edge of lever 146 as shown in FIG. 6.

From Vthe above discussion it will be apparent that the cycle counter controlled disc teeth 132, 133 are mutually disposed in rotative phase such that the Warning lever 146 is operated a predetermined number of machine cycles before the end of the useful life of inkl roll 15 and so that the lockout link 134 is later operated to effectively disable the machine control key 64 at the end of the life of said ink roll. When this condition of the machine exists three functions must thereafter be performed in order to get back to proper operating conditions; namely the ink roll should be replaced, the machine should be unlocked and the warning lever 146 should be reset to a normal nonindicating position.

In the instant arrangement operation of the lever 136 serves to control orV perform these functions. VA knife blade 155 and a key 156 are formed on the forward end of lever 136 so that when the key 156 is depressed the blade 155 will engage and sever the` normally adjacentportionA of the ink roll hub 16 thus effectively destroyingthe disposable ink roll as for any possible further use inthe machine. The portion of the' ink roll hub to be severed is made of a material such as plastic which is suiliciently rigid to offer the necessary shaft supportfor the ink rollbutwhich is soft enough to be sheared oit by a convenient manual actuation of the severing blade 155. Depression of key 156 will also lower the leverear 151'and due to an angularly disposed portion 157, FIG. 3 of the warning arm 146 the downward movement of'lever 136 over said angular portion will cam the warningl lever 14-6v sideways or to the right as seen in FIG. 3 so lthat-the lever ear 1-51 is no longer in a detenting relation with respect to the forward edge of the warning lever and the warning lever is then vfree to be reset or returned to its normal FIG. 1 position by the action of spring 14j8. The depression of .key 156 also elevates the lockout link 134 `so that the link nose 145 will move above theV disc tooth- `132, FIG. 6, whereupon spring 140 will be free yto swing said link back to its normal FIG. 1 position against the `stud 141; this action. thereby permitting the trip pawl 73 to benrot-atably reset by its spring 74 to its normalFIG. 1 position. When the trip pawl is thus restored'to its normal position the machine is effectively enabled-or unlocked so that depression of the cycle control -key or bar. 64 Will again be eifective to initiate a machine cycle in the manner above described. As will be apparent here the cycle control key is depressed only after a replacement of the ink roll 15 has been made; this replacement beingquickly and easily performed by reason of the yieldable mounting of the upper hub engaging jaws 2,1, 21" which facilitate the manual Withdrawal and insertion ofink rolls. Once the new ink roll is in place and the machine is again conditioned for operation as above described the toothed discs 130 4and 131 will be atl the beginning of the next revolution which must be completed in order to again lock out the machine. In this `type arrangement the counter does not need any resettingin the `usual sense .and` in response to the repeated cycling of the `machinesimply continues the incremental stepped,l advance of the toothed discs 130, 131 through the .next 360 degreesof travel; which travel occurs over and concomitantly with-.the useful life of the new ink roll. Where it-is desired to Vinsure ythat the machine vis not unlocked or enabled until a new'ink roll is inserted in the machine/an electrical Vswitch 160, FIG. 7, may be mounted on the ink roll supporting bracket 17. This switch which is velectrically connected in series with the motor switch 36 'has van operating arm 161 that bears against theV ink roll hub .16 and in this Acondition remains electrically closed. When the exhausted ink roll is removed the switch Varm 161 is thereby permitted to move to a position to electrically open the switch and thus the machine drive-motor 35' cannot lbe operateduntil a new ink roll-is inserted in the machine. The lead wires 162, 163 to switch 1'60 may be coiled as illustrated so as to accommodate the operating movements of the ink roll supportingl bracket 17.

Since rmany changes could be made in the embodiment of the'invention as particularly-described' and shown herein without 'departingfrom the scope of the invention, it is intended that this'embodiment be considered as exemplary and`that the inventionnot be limitedexcept as warranted by the following claims. Y

Whatis claimed is:

`-1. In a-printing machine having a drive means, and

a consumable supply unit;

'the improvement comprising control means for. controlling the actuation of said drive Ameans for a predetermined period,

means operable at vthe vend of said period for preventingoperation of said control means, and

positionedV means operable. after said drive means is prevented from beingv operated for effectively destroying said consumable supply itemV and for permitting operation of said drive means.

2. In a prin/ting machine having drive means;

control means for controlling the operation of said drive means, and

a consumable element in said machine operable-with said drive means; l

the improvement' comprising cycle counting means, Y

means responsive to a predetermined condition of said counting means for disabling said control means,

means forv preventing further use of said consumable.

element in'said machine and for restoring said control means to an enabled condition, and

means operative at a time before said control means is disabled for Vindicating the approachingV end of the effective life of said consumable element.

3. Apparatus as defined by claim 2 wherein said control means includes a means that is operative in response to the insertion Aof a new consumable element in the machine.

4. In a printing device having drive means,

' control means for controlling the operation of said drive means, and

an expendable inking member operable with said drive means;

the improvement comprising means for preventing operation of said drive means after Ya predetermined extent of use of said inking member, and

means for rendering said inking member permanently uniit for use in the printing device and for thereafter permitting the operation of said drive means.

5. In a machine having a printing device including cyclically operable drive means, and

a disposable self contained ink supply roll operated by said drive means;

the improvement comprising counting means for counting the Yoperative kcycles of said drive means,

disabling means controlled by said counting means for preventing the operation of said drive means after va predetermined number of'said operative cycles, and means when actuated for both destroying said ink roll and for permitting operation of said drive means.

6; Apparatus as defined by claim 5; additionally com prising` indicator means for giving'a machine operator a Warning of the approaching end ofV said predetermined number of said cycles.

7. Apparatus as defined by claim 5 wherein said means for destroying said inking roll includes a shearing blade that is adapted to cut a portion of said ink roll.

8. In a `printing machine having cyclically operated drive means,

means, and

a disposable self-contained ink supply roll operated by said drive means;

the improvement comprising counting means for counting the'nurnber of cycles of operation of said drive means,

means controlled by said counting means for disabling saidcontrol means after a predetermined number of machine cycles yof operation,

means to render said inking roll permanently unt for use in the machine, and

means operated in response to the actuation of the means for rendering said inking roll permanently unfit for use inthe machine for enabling'said control means.

control means for controlling the operation of said drive 10 9. Apparatus as defined by claim 8 wherein said means sponse to the insertion of a new ink supply roll in the for rendering said ink roll permanently unt for use in machine. the machine includes a movable blade member which 1s References Cited in the me of this Patent operable to sever a hub portion of said ink roll.

10. Apparatus as defined by claim 9 additionally com- 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS prising; 1,763,067 Schaal June 10, 1930 indicator means for Warning a machine operator that 2,003,219 Pearson May 28, 1935 said predetermined number of cycles is nearly com- 2,067,294 Tear Jan. 12, 1937 plete. 2,251,162 Payne July 29, 1941 11. Apparatus as dened by claim 10 wherein said 10 2,406,726 Weinmont Aug. 27, 1946 control means includes a means that is operated in re- 3,083,642 Birk et al Apr. 2, 1963 

1. IN A PRINTING MACHINE HAVING A DRIVE MEANS, AND A CONSUMABLE SUPPLY UNIT; THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING CONTROL MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE ACTUATION OF SAID DRIVE MEANS FOR A PREDETERMINED PERIOD, MEANS OPERABLE AT THE END OF SAID PERIOD FOR PREVENTING OPERATION OF SAID CONTROL MEANS, AND MEANS OPERABLE AFTER SAID DRIVE MEANS IS PREVENTED FROM BEING OPERATED FOR EFFECTIVELY DESTROYING SAID CONSUMABLE SUPPLY ITEM AND FOR PERMITTING OPERATION OF SAID DRIVE MEANS. 